...yup! A parochial post today. I asked on Facebook, a while ago,
for the different online sites peeps in Aussie used to get their photos
developed.
It opened a bit of a can of worms. I got LOTS of recommendations &
ideas. But opted to go with the most popular.
Top L-Harvey N; Top R-K-Mart; Bottom L-Snap Fish; Bottom R-Nu Shots.
Why was I even asking? Because printing my own snaps at home has become
way too expensive - the ink & photo paper. And I've been disappointed with
their quality.
We have a local K-Mart, with 10c a print cost, so I thought this would be
the sensible option. But when I got my 30 odd photos back, I was really
disappointed. You could spit through the paper. They were fuzzy & pixilated.
Fatmumslim has, recently, done a post on developing too.
I had a peek
HERE. She includes OS sites. But she 'wrote off'
HOWEVER, a LOT of you guys use them - so
Top L-Snap Fish; top R-K Mart; Bottom L-Harvey Norman; Bottom R-Nu Shots.
I think in the end I'll go with
NUSHOTS. It's not JUST about picture quality!
Positives:
Simple to navigate system.
The ability to choose a different size as you are editing your print.
The ability to choose matte or gloss individually.
The ability to choose a frame as you place your order.
They show the picture quality - with a percentage, which is great.
Sometimes phone photos are too pixilated, but you don't know 'til you've printed them.
This saves that happening!
Excellent auto correct tool.
THE best quality photo paper.
Quality of the photos was, overall, about an 8, I reckon.
Negatives:
Took 5 days to arrive.
Postage is $5-00. More expensive than the others.
Prints cost 19c each, regardless of 4x4 or 6x4. Also the most expensive.
Top L- Harvey Norman; top R-K Mart; Bottom L-Snap Fish; bottom R-Nu Shots.
HARVEY NORMAN This came a close 2nd...
Positives:
Speedy service.
Great auto correct tool.
Probably the best quality, just pipping Nu Shots. I'd give them an 8.5
Choice of matte or glossy.
Negatives:
I found the system difficult to navigate.
You are supposed to get free prints [7x5"] when you join, but it was all too hard,
so I ended up not even bothering.
I wanted some prints 6x4, but trying to figure out how to change some sizes
was also too hard. I got a bit frustrated with the whole thing and gave up.
So I ended up with all 4x4 photos.
Postage $2-95
Prints cost 15c.
Top L-K Mart; top R-Harvey Norman; Bottom L-Snap Fish; bottom R-Nu Shots.
SNAP FISH
Positives:
Good quality paper.
Choice of matte or glossy.
50 FREE prints on joining. So I only paid for
postage for my photos. VERY good deal.
And this was done by the system, so it was easy peasy.
Negatives:
Last to arrive! Took 6 days.
No 4x4 choice - then after I'd paid a box came up to
say some photos would be better quality if printed smaller so I
said yes. But when I got them back, they were cropped really
randomly. Not happy about that!
The editing tool was really painful. Difficult and fiddly.
So I didn't bother. The quality didn't suffer too much,
but overall I'd give this a 7.5 quality-wise.
Postage: $2-95
Prints cost 15c
Top-K Mart; Bottom- NuShots. I've tried to get close up so you can actually SEE the difference better.
Some of the K Mart photos look OK from the distance, but they're actually
over processed and 'fuzzy' up close.
Other developers peeps mentioned include:
OFFICEWORKS
EASTMON DIGITAL
BIG W
ORIGRAMI
B&W PHOTOGRAPHICS
CAMERA HOUSE
Anyway, this is all just my opinion based on the photos I sent off to get
processed..... hope this is helpful in one way or another to you Aussies out there:)
Cheers, Lizzy ♥♥♥
PS: I just sorted the photos out that I wanted to keep. Then counted which ones
came from which company. Some I kept 2 of,
as I sometimes scrap 2 of the same...
So, I ended up with this:
K Mart - 4 photos
Snap Fish - 8 photos
NuShots - 11 photos
Harvey Norman - 17 photos
Interesting, I thought.... I might have to try again at
Harvey Norman's system & see if I can 'work' it better!!
But I still like NuShots paper & system best!!!